Andy Burnham has defended his Brexit stance after indicating at the Labour conference that he wanted to reconsider Britain’s long-term relationship with Brussels.
The Prime Minister had previously told voters in the Leave-supporting Makerfield constituency that Brexit should not be the focus of the by-election campaign and that he was not advocating Britain rejoining the European Union.
Asked whether his latest position reflected what constituents had told him on the doorstep, Mr Burnham said: “I stand by everything I said in the by-election.”
He added: “I said that we shouldn’t be going straight to a divisive referendum and that’s not what I’m proposing right now.”
Mr Burnham made the comments after telling Labour’s conference that he wanted to look again at the UK’s long-term relationship with Brussels.
During his campaign in Makerfield, he said Brexit had been damaging but argued that “the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments”.
“Britain will be stuck in a permanent rut if we’re just constantly arguing and people are pulling away from each other,” he said at an investment summit in Leeds.
He also said he respected the result of the referendum, warning that failing to do so would undermine his arguments for strengthening democracy.
Mr Burnham went on to win the by-election. A month later, he was elected Labour leader and became Prime Minister.
